


Those Piercing Blue Eyes Are All I Think About

by catchmeafallingstar



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Bullying, Destiel - Freeform, Fluff, Little bit of angst, M/M, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-03
Updated: 2014-10-25
Packaged: 2018-01-21 19:33:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 21,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1561550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catchmeafallingstar/pseuds/catchmeafallingstar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam and Dean move to a new town, and Dean is sure his senior year will be just as shit as ever. Then he meets Castiel, a boy with piercing blue eyes who likes to draw and spends his life hiding from bullies and his brothers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I will try and update every few days, but sorry if i don't. Hope you enjoy it and feel free to leave comments but this is my first fanfic so please don't be too harsh :)
> 
> Also my tumblr is catchmeafallingstar.tumblr.com

Castiel Novak was just about to start his senior year, and he was not looking forward to it at all. He had had a quiet yet pleasant summer, which had been spent reading and drawing, and occasionally going for walks when his inspiration ran dry. He was a little apprehensive about the coming semester because he had always been quiet and enjoyed his own company, which didn't bode well with high school bullies. He had been used as a punch bag for the jocks and other popular kids since freshman year. He had also been called names like "loner" and "freak" and the one he hated most, "faggot". Castiel was gay, but that didn't mean he wanted it crudely shouted all over the school, nor did he think it was a good reason to be bullied. So he avoided people when he could and focused on his sketchbook and his writing and his schoolwork.

He looked at the clock on his bedroom wall, which read 1:37 AM. He decided it was time to put his sketchbook away and at least try to go to sleep. He wanted to be alert enough tomorrow to defend himself from Crowley and his gang if he had to, which he was fairly sure he would. Castiel sighed and rolled over, falling into a restless but thankfully dreamless sleep.

 

**********************

 

Dean Winchester awoke with a violent start to the sound of his younger brother Sam pounding on his new bedroom door and shouting  
"Dean! Dean! We gotta leave in ten minutes and don't tell me you ain't going cause I need a ride and Dad'll pissed if you get done for skiving in the first week!"  
Dean groaned and reluctantly got out of bed "Alright Samantha, there's no need to get your panties in a twist, I'm coming."

"Jerk!" Sam responded as Dean hastily pulled on his jeans, a T- shirt and his favourite brown leather jacket. 

"Bitch!" he shot back with a grin as he quickly rubbed some gel in his hair, spiking it up at the front, and came out of his room. He grabbed a slice of cold pizza from the counter for breakfast and shoved some money in his pocket for lunch before going out to his baby and calling for Sam. 

Sam grumpily got into the Impala and asked Dean to turn the music down. "Learn to live a little, Sammy!" Dean replied lightly as he turned down the music anyway but Sam continued to wear one of his most spectacular bitchfaces throughout the short journey.

"See ya later, Sammy!" Dean called to Sam as he entered the high school building. He figured that the reason Sam was being so pissy was that he was nervous about starting yet another new school. Their Dad had finally decided to get an apartment to let Sam and Dean finish their education properly, and he would travel away on hunts for a few weeks at a time.

 

***********************

 

“I would like you all to welcome our new student, Dean Winchester.” The teacher said after she had taken attendance, just as a new boy walked in. Cas looked up at him. He was wearing a brown leather jacket, an ACDC T-shirt and he had bright green eyes, which seemed to be immensely focused on his boots. This surprised Cas, as this Dean Winchester definitely had the physique of an overconfident jock, and it made him wonder why he wasn’t living up to his role.

Luckily for Castiel, Crowley wasn’t in his class, but Alastair, one of his gang, was. Castiel saw that he was looking at Dean and sizing him up, probably deciding if he should bully him or let him be part of the gang. Unfortunately for Castiel, he seemed to have decided on the latter, and his heart sank. He had hoped that this year would be better, but he now saw that he would most likely have yet another bully on his hands. Alastair waved Dean over and started talking to him. Castiel couldn’t hear what they were saying because he had positioned himself in the class as far away from Alastair as possible, but as Alastair finished speaking, Dean’s face lit up. And he sat down, looking very satisfied. The bell rang for them to go to their first class and as everyone was leaving, Castiel managed to catch a snippet of Alastair and Dean’s conversation. Alastair was saying to Dean “So just come to practice after school, we really need some new players and if you played at your last school, Coach’ll probably let you straight on the team.” Well that was just fabulous, Castiel thought, sighing inwardly. Not only did he now have another bully to face, but he was another bully who was also a football player, so he would most definitely be part of Crowley’s gang. This was going to be a long year.

Castiel put the books he didn’t need into his locker and tried to keep his head down as he walked to his first class, which was English. He hoped that Crowley wouldn’t notice him, but he had no such luck as he caught sight of Crowley and some of his cronies, Raphael and Michael sauntering towards him. He realised that the new boy, Dean, was with them, and was surprised that while Crowley, Raphael and Michael swaggered confidently with smug and malicious grins on their faces, Dean looked less confident, maybe even nervous and like he didn’t really want to be there at all. He caught Castiel’s eye and then abruptly looked down at his boots again. Castiel tensed and braced himself for the coming blows.

“Well hello, brother dear.” Michael said, “What have you got here?” He took the copy of To Kill a Mockingbird from Castiel and ripped the cover of the book in half, throwing it onto the hallway floor. Crowley took over from Michael and began to punch him repeatedly whilst Raphael looked on with a smirk and casually joined in, saying, “You disgusting faggot. I can’t believe we’re even related. Maybe if we hit you enough it’ll be knocked out of you.” He spat in Castiel’s face. Dean looked shocked at the revelation that Raphael, Michael and Castiel were brothers. Bullying was bad enough, especially if the person was smaller and weaker than you. But your own family? That was different. He wanted to stop them but they were all pretty big aside from Crowley, and he didn’t want to risk pissing them off in case they hurt Castiel even more, so he kept quiet, and looked on, horrified. Michael joined in insulting Castiel.

“you’re so pathetic, you little faggot, relying on your little sister to protect you. But now she’s gone, isn’t she?” He punched Castiel in the groin with considerable force and his face contorted in pain. “I don’t know why she bothered with you.” He smashed Castiel’s head against the lockers a few times for good measure and then let go of him, watching him slump to the ground before he left with Raphael and Crowley. 

“See you at practice, Dean!” Raphael called as their backs retreated down the hallway. Dean was unsure of what to about Castiel, who was lying on the ground. He must be in a lot of pain, judging by the beating he just got, but he supposed that if you put up with that sort of thing for a long time, you got used to it.

“Do you want something?” Castiel asked as he noticed his staring, before getting out a tissue from his trench coat pocket and wiping the blood from his nose.

“Oh…er, I guess not.” Dean looked at his boots again.

“Well if you don’t mind, I have a class to go to, which I’m already late for- no thanks to you.” Castiel replied as he gathered his things from the floor and got up. He stomped of down the hallway and through the double doors, presumably to his first class. Dean stared after him for a few seconds, conflicted. All he had been able to notice about Castiel since they had met was his deep, piercing blue eyes. They seemed to be full of so much pain, for pretty obvious reasons, Dean thought. “Don’t even go there.” He muttered to himself, “You are not gay. You need to fit in here, or you might end up getting expelled like last time.” Jesus fucking Christ I am losing it, he thought, before shaking himself off and walking away in an attempt to find his first class.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to upload, but i've had exams this week and next week so I haven't had much time. After next week I will probably upload more regularly though. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

Castiel walked into his English class, apologised to the teacher for his tardiness and walked to sit down in the empty row at the back. He really hoped that she wouldn’t keep him behind after the lesson because he needed to get away quickly to avoid another run in with Crowley and his gang. He was just getting out the plan for his essay when Dean walked in. 

All Castiel’s hopes of finishing high school alive were shattered then and there. Previously English had been the only class he ever enjoyed, partly because of his love of literature but mostly because there were no members of Crowley’s gang who shared it with him. No one actually liked him or spoke to him, but they didn’t hit him or shout abuse at him either. But now all that was gone. He looked up from his musings and saw that his teacher was telling Dean to go and sit next to him. “Could this day possibly get any worse?” He thought to himself and then concluded that probably, with his luck, it could get a lot worse.

Dean went to the back of the class and sat down next to Castiel. He thought he should probably apologise about earlier, that had definitely not been one of his finest moments and he wasn’t so sure that he wanted to be friends with Crowley and his gang anymore. Dean Winchester was many things, but a bully was not one of them. He had been brought up to shoot the bad guys and save the innocent people, and while he wasn’t going to shoot Crowley, he wasn’t going to support him either.

“Look man,” he started, but Castiel cut him off.

“What is it?” he asked, his voice filled with venom, “have you thought of some new insults to throw at me?”

“No, man, nothing like that.” He replied hastily, “I- I just wanted to, you know, apologise about earlier.”

“Oh so is this Crowley’s new scheme to break me? Gain my trust and then wipe the floor with me? Again.” That was the only explanation he could come up with for why the new and already popular football player Dean Winchester would even consider talking to him.

“No, Crowley doesn’t know about this. I didn’t know he was gonna rearrange your face or I wouldn’t have stood behind him.” Castiel was not convinced.

“Huh. Really? Because I’ve never met anyone who wouldn’t stand behind Crowley if he asked them to”

“Well you have now.” Castiel desperately wanted to believe Dean, it would be nice to have a person who spoke to him in words other than insults, but he doubted his honesty. In his experience, there was no point in trusting anyone at High School. They would ditch you anyway when someone better or more popular came along. He didn’t need to make things worse for himself by trusting someone he barely knew. He decided to go back to his essay.

 

“Well if you don’t mind, I actually have to pass my classes if I ever want to get out of this place.” He turned away from Dean and bent over his work.

“Yeah, yeah. Look, just… Sorry man, ok?” Castiel did not respond, clearly intent on continuing his essay. Dean got his new copy of To Kill a Mockingbird out and started to read, but he couldn’t focus on the words on the page and none of it was sinking in. All he could think about was those piercing blue eyes. Not gay. Not gay. Not gay. He kept on repeating the mantra to himself in his mind. It was hardly like he was gonna suck the dude off whilst sliding down a rainbow; he just thought the guy was cool, that was all. That’s what he had to keep telling himself.

*****************************************

Dean decided not to go to football tryouts now that he had seen Crowley’s true colours. Plus, the rain was absolutely pissing down. Instead, he waited for Sam out the front of the school in the impala with one of his Metallica cassettes on full volume. After about fifteen minutes Sam finally left the school and headed to the Impala.

“Jesus Christ Sammy, where’ve ya been?” Sam had got into the car and violently shook his head, spraying water from his long hair everywhere. “Dude! No shaking your hair off in my baby! You’re not a fucking dog, man! Anyway, where the hell have you been?”

“I was just talking to some people.” He replied, blushing slightly.

“What’s her name?” Dean asked. He knew that face.

“Dean! Don’t just assume stuff!” his blush deepened.

“C’mon Sammy, what’s her name?”

“Jessica” 

“She in your year?”

“No, she’s a sophomore”

“Ooh look at you, in for the older women!”

“Shut up Dean!” Sam then proceeded to bitchface all the way to their apartment.

*********************************************

Castiel wasn’t taking any chances by waiting for the rain to subside. He left school as quickly as possible; the last thing he needed was another encounter with Crowley if football practice turned out to be cancelled due to the atrocious weather.  
As he walked along he thought about his encounter with Dean earlier that day. He wasn’t sure what to make of this green-eyed new boy. While on the outside he looked tough with his leather jacket and army boots, today in English he had apologised to Castiel. And he seemed genuine. Castiel couldn’t think of any reason why he would need to apologise other than that he actually felt bad about what had happened in the corridor. He didn’t have to, and would probably suffer the wrath of Crowley’s gang because of it. Maybe, just maybe, he was the only person in the school who didn’t hate him? He wouldn’t go as far as to say he liked him, but he didn’t hate him and that was more than could be said for anyone else. By this time he had reached his apartment building, so he decided he would think more about this later and see how Dean treated him tomorrow.

He was reasonably sure that his two eldest and worst brothers- Michael and Raphael- were still out at football practice. He was surprised they were still allowed to play high school football, considering they were both 20 years old but unable to pass senior year. He wasn’t taking any risks though, so he entered the apartment as quietly as could and practically sprinted to his room. 

He had no such luck in getting to his room unnoticed, however, as he was spotted by two of his other brothers, Gabriel and Lucifer. You would have thought that Lucifer would have been the worst, taking into account the connotations of his name, but he was actually rather a good brother to Castiel, although he was sometimes extremely annoying. He was Michael’s twin, although decidedly more intelligent and with a better sense of humour. Gabriel was the shortest of the family, although almost a year older than Castiel and seemed to be addicted to candy. He also seemed to have an unlimitedly supply of it about his person. Castiel had always wondered how he could just whip out seven lollipops and a bag of gummibears from thin air. 

“Hey Cassie!” Gabriel shouted excitedly, “I thought since the douche squad are out partying tonight and won’t be home ‘til tomorrow, we could have a pizza and movie night! You in?” 

Castiel sighed, “It’s Thursday. I always have many things to do on Thursday. And don’t call me Cassie.” He replied.

“Oh come on Cassie, live a little!” 

“Fine.” Castiel reluctantly agreed. He had a lot on his mind at the moment, and he was not really in the mood for a movie night with Gabriel and Lucifer. He knew that there was no point in arguing with them though; they would pester him until he gave in.

“Great!” Gabriel replied. He grabbed the phone. “I’ll order pizza!”

Castiel groaned. This was going to be a long night.

******************************************

Dean called Sam for dinner. He came into the kitchen but he frowned when he saw the pizza.

“Dean, we can’t have pizza every night. It’s good to eat healthy sometimes too.”

“Yeah, I know, but Dad didn’t leave us much money this week and pizza’s cheap. Which reminds me,” he smiled, “I have some good news which I forgot about.”

“Oh yeah?” Sam replied, sitting down and taking a large bite from a slice of pizza. “Out with it then.”

“I have a job.” He grinned like he’d just resolved world hunger.

“How in hell did you get a job?” Sam asked incredulously, which Dean thought was a little harsh; “I swear you pretty much flunk everything every year.”

“Always the tone of surprise, Sammy.” He replied, his mouth full of pizza, “I was just at the store and I saw an advert for an assistant mechanic on Saturdays and I went and the guy gave it to me.”

“That’s good. Where is it?”

“It’s pretty local, someplace called Singer’s Auto or something.”

“Oh, I met the guy who owns it’s step-daughter today. She works there sometimes as well.”

“Jessica?”

“No, one of her friends. She’s called Jo.”

“Look at you, ladies man!” Dean playfully punched Sam on the shoulder.

“Dean.” Sam looked exasperated; “I don’t just go to school to meet girls, I’m not you.”

“Uh-huh?” Dean answered, his mouth full of pizza.

“Yeah there’s a whole group of them, guys and girls who all hang out. I met them through this girl, Charlie, who’s in my homeroom. What about you? You meet anyone today?”

“This gang tried to take me in, but once I saw ‘em beat up their own brother I stepped back. I don’t wanna be a part of that.”

“Fair enough. Look, I still got a shit ton of work to do, so I’m gonna head back to my room, ‘kay?”

“Sure. Maybe I’ll even do some homework myself.”

“Call 911! I think I’m about to pass out from shock!” Sam laughed and left for his room. Dean put the dishes in the sink and went to his own room. He still couldn’t get those piercing blue eyes out of his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to confirm there will not be a scene where Dean sucks Cas off whilst sliding down a rainbow ;)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, sorry it took me so long to update but I have been really busy…. Ok that’s a complete lie. I’m just really lazy. Updates should hopefully be more frequent and regular now though because I seem to have finally got my shit together.

Castiel walked into his art class and was extremely surprised to see a familiar green- eyed face sitting next to where he usually sat. Dean smiled in recognition when he saw Castiel. He was a little, no extremely, confused as to why Dean seemed so keen to spend time with him but he went and sat down at his normal place anyway.

"Hello Dean." Said Castiel. "I wasn't aware that you took art."

"Yeah I only took it up just now. Cause I had to take another class and I ain't got a hope in hell of passing anything else. School’s never really been my thing, see. Woulda dropped out years ago and got a job but my old man's making me stay. Sorry, I'm rambling"

"No, it's ok." Castiel found himself weirdly captivated by Dean's every word. It confused him. He thought it was probably just the fact that Dean had actually apologised and tried to talk to him. "So do you enjoy sketching?"

"Never really tried it." Dean's forehead crinkled in thought. "I used to always draw a lot as a kid, I guess. We travelled a lot and it was a pretty good way of not being bored in the car. That doesn't really count though."

Castiel was about to reply when the teacher walked in.

"Good morning class." The class murmured in response. "We have a new student, Dean Winchester. I won't bother embarrassing him by making him come to the front and introduce himself. This is, after all, the second day so you should have been acquainted by now. Now, this term will pretty much be letting you do what you want. That doesn't, however, mean there won't be any work. You will be expected to produce a sketchbook on a subject of your choice where you will explore a variety of artistic techniques, working towards a final piece, which you will hand in at the end of the semester. This lesson you should brainstorm possible subjects and if you decide, start thinking about what you could do. Everything you will need is at the front, off you go, get on with it." He went and sat down at his desk.

Castiel walked up to the front to get new sketchbooks for himself and Dean. Since their earlier conversational attempt had been going so well, he decided to try and continue. Easier said than done.

"So, um, Dean, do you have any, um, ideas for the subject of your project?"

"Absolutely no fucking idea." He replied, "you?"

"No" Castiel replied, frowning and tilting his head slightly to the side in thought. Dean did not think that was the fucking cutest thing since Tweety Pie because he was not gay.

"Maybe we should give that whole brainstorming idea a shot then."

"Yes, that sounds like a sensible suggestion."

Dean was kind of surprised but also really fucking pleased that Castiel had decided to talk to him; after yesterday he had kind of assumed he didn't want to. They continued chatting and even laughing occasionally as they brainstormed their ideas for the rest of the lesson.

****************************************

The bell rang suddenly, and Dean just about shot ten feet in the air in shock. Castiel laughed at him, and Dean shot him a playful scowl in return. They packed up their stuff and Dean was just heading down the corridor in what he hoped was the direction of his next class when someone tapped him on the shoulder. He whirled round in shock, half expecting it to be one of Crowley’s gang going to punch him. Instead he found himself staring straight into those deep, piercing blue eyes that he couldn’t for the life of him get out of his head.

“Oh hey Cas.” He said, trying to sound nonchalant. Castiel looked surprised. “What did I do?” Dean asked, worried that he’d offended him again.

“Oh, nothing, it’s just that no-one’s ever called me Cas. It’s Castiel, Faggot or occasionally Cassie, when my brother Gabriel is trying to piss me off.” He replied.

“Oh sorry man, do you mind me calling you Cas?”

“No, it’s okay. I think I might quite like it actually. It’s definitely better than nicknames I’ve had in the past.” He smiled at Dean, who smiled back dopily, and then remembered that he was Dean Winchester, awesome dude with an equally awesome car, not a thirteen-year-old girl with her first crush. He hastily arranged his face into a vaguely normal expression and then replied to Cas:

“Ok, good. What did you want me for?” he asked.

“Oh yes.” Cas tilted his head again in concentration. Get a fucking grip, Dean thought to himself. “I was just wondering if you wanted to meet up again at lunch. It was nice to talk to you just now, and I normally eat lunch on my own so…” he trailed off.

“Yeah cool.” Dean replied quickly. Get your shit together. “So where do you sit in the cafeteria? I ain’t seen you around.”

“Oh I don’t sit in the cafeteria. That would be practically asking to get beaten up every lunch period. I’m not stupid.”

Dean was confused. “Where do you sit then?”

“Meet me outside the art room at lunch and I’ll show you.” Castiel winked and then darted of down the corridor in the opposite direction. He fucking winked at me, Dean thought. He couldn’t have winked; Dean must have imagined it. And even if he did: it doesn’t matter because you aren’t gay, the voice inside his head whispered. Dean sighed and then tried to focus on his next obstacle: Finding his next class.

********************************************

When the bell finally rang for lunch Dean practically sprinted to the art room. Castiel was already there. He was leaning against the wall and looked like a model posing for a photoshoot. 

“Hello Dean,” He said in his low, gravelly voice that sounded so unexpected coming from his mouth yet at the same time seemed to fit him so well. He internally told himself to get his shit together because this was just making a friend; he wasn’t gay. He sighed. He was behaving like a thirteen-year-old girl again. But he couldn’t be gay. If he were gay his Dad would go fucking apeshit. “Dean! Dean? Are you ok?” Dean suddenly jolted back to reality.

“Oh yeah sorry man I’m fine” He hastily replied. Well played Dean.

“Right well then let’s go.” Cas smiled and grabbed Dean’s arm before running off down the corridor to the stairwell. Dean had no choice but to follow behind. When they got to the third floor, Cas stopped running and went over to one of the windows. He opened it, climbed out, and beckoned for Dean to follow him.

Dean looked out of the window and cautiously climbed out when he saw that it led to a flat platform that was apparently the roof of the floor below. He sat down next to Cas and got out his lunch. He had two slices of cold meat feast pizza with extra bacon. Or, as Sam liked to call it, “clogged artery heart disease pizza”.

“Dude this place is fucking awesome.” He said, taking a large bite of pizza. Cas smiled at him as he took out his sandwich.

“It’s even better now that I have someone to share it with. I’m lucky enough that so far no-one has found me here.”

“How come?”

“Because this is the science corridor. No- one comes down here during lunch, not even the teachers. I found this place during freshman year, on one of many occasions where I was trying to escape Crowley and his gang.”

“Crowley and his gang have been being dicks to you since freshman year?” Dean asked, shocked. He knew that Crowley was a dick but he didn’t realize he was that much of a dick.

Cas nodded. “It’s not too bad though. Most lunchtimes I either come here or go to the art room. They tend to be more of a problem before and after school, and in between classes.”

“Talking of the art room,” interrupted Dean, “have you had any more ideas for your project?”

“Not really. I was thinking about things I like, and the only thing that came to mind was books, but I don’t know if that would make a very good art project.”

“I think it could, if you did it right. You could stack them up in towers or draw small sections of the pages or the covers and stuff. That could be really awesome.”

“That actually does sound like it could work.” Responded Cas, “It sounds quite cool actually. Did you have any ideas for yours?”

“I was thinking maybe I could do it on classic cars or something. Because, like, I have one and it is my greatest joy in life apart from pie.” Dean’s green eyes sparkled as he began to talk about his precious baby. “And I’ve been fixing it since I could walk, pretty much. My dad gave it to me as my own for my sixteenth birthday.”

“Oh that would be good. There are so many ways you could go with it.” Dean looked confused. “I mean that you could draw the exterior of the car, but also the interior, and you could even lift up the hood and draw the engine or the inner workings.”

“Oh yeah.” Said Dean. “That would be awesome., I hadn’t thought about it like that.”

They continued eating, talking and laughing until the bell rang and Dean realized that he had to go. He stood up, not wanting to seem clingy, and just as he was climbing back in the window to go to his next class, Cas spoke to him.

“Dean?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m glad I showed you this place.” He said, “Do you wanna do this again tomorrow?” 

Dean just about did the Macarena with excitement and joy (it was friendly excitement and joy though, he wasn’t gay) but decided he would be cool and calm about it. “Sure.” He replied, “I mean, only if you want to…”

“Do you seriously think I would ask you if I didn’t?” They both laughed.

“Alright then. See you tomorrow, Cas.”

*********************************************  
As Cas was walking home that day he pondered upon the day’s events. Whilst the prospect of having a real friend was certainly exciting to him, he warned himself not to get his hopes up. This could still be some sort of elaborate hoax from Crowley. He really, really hoped it wasn’t though.

He had a nickname now. Not a rude name that people would scream at him from across the hallway to hurt him, but a real friendly nickname. And Dean definitely seemed nice enough. And his face certainly didn’t leave much to be desired. Those big green eyes, his spiked up hair, his freckles. Cas could certainly get used to having a face like that around. And, what’s more, Dean didn’t seem bothered by the fact that he was gay. He didn’t run screaming in disgust, and he didn’t ask all those downright stupid questions that people seemed to think were acceptable. Well, he hadn’t actually told Dean that he was gay, but he was pretty sure that he would have heard it around, especially spending his first morning with Crowley’s gang.

As he walked along, he realized how he had felt with Dean. For the first time in a long time, Castiel had felt completely carefree and happy. As he got ever closer to his house the parasite of dread and nerves began slowly growing and twisting in his stomach and his bubble popped suddenly as he could hear Michael shouting from two doors down. This was going to be a long night.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello again! two chapters in a week wow :)

Dean was waiting in his car with one of his AC/DC cassettes blaring out of the speakers at full volume. He drummed on the steering wheel impatiently as he waited for Cas to hurry the fuck up and get in his car. 

Over the past few weeks Dean and Cas had become pretty close. They had two lessons together, English Literature and Art, and they spent every lunchtime on the Science corridor roof. They often worked on their art projects during lunch, and Cas sometimes helped Dean with his essays. But they had never been round to each others’ places, and yesterday Dean had finally summoned the courage to ask Cas round to his and Sam’s apartment. He was ridiculously excited about it and had even tidied his room. Well, he had picked up the dirty laundry and made his bed for probably the first time in his life. A sharp knock on the passenger window jerked him back to the here and now and he turned his head to see Cas peering in at him. He motioned for him to get in and he did, placing his leather briefcase at his feet.

“Hello Dean” Cas said, “How was your afternoon?”

“No better than usual.” Dean replied as he started up the ignition, “You?”

“Reasonably similar to your description. Shouldn’t we wait for your brother before we leave?”

“Nah, that little nerd’s gone to one of his friend’s houses to study.” He made quotes with his fingers as he said the word study. “I think he’ll be home for dinner though.”

Dean drove out of the parking lot, showing off for Cas by driving even faster than he normally did and doing risky handbrake turns.

“Are you usually such a reckless driver, Dean?” Cas asked him.

“No,” Dean answered sheepishly, “But it’s pretty fun.”

“Yeah, it is.” Cas replied, “But it would be preferable if we could make it to your apartment whilst we were still alive.”

“I suppose…” Dean conceded, easing off the throttle a tiny bit and driving in a straight line.

*****************************************************

Dean unlocked the door to the small apartment and closed it behind himself and Cas. “Ain’t much,” he said, “but it’s a nice change from motel rooms.”

“I wasn’t aware that you had spent a lot of time living in motel rooms.” Cas replied, looking at Dean questioningly and tilting his head in that way that Dean definitely did not find attractive.

“Yeah, after my Mom died, my Dad had to travel a lot for his work. And he couldn’t leave me an’ Sammy on our own all the time, so he brought us with him.” Dean looked down at his boots again; it was his tell for when he was uncomfortable or anxious. Cas decided not to travel any further down that path of conversation, so he said nothing and simply nodded as he followed Dean down the hall. 

They came to a door and Dean said “Hang on can you just wait there so I can make sure there’s no dirty underwear on the floor?”

“Sure.” Said Castiel, smiling in amusement as he waited in the hallway. Dean came back out of the room.

So… This is my room.” Dean stated as they entered the room. Castiel looked around. The room was painted white, with faded poster of bands like Metallica and AC/DC covering the walls. In one corner was a double bed, which had obviously been recently made in a hurry. On the other side were a desk and a closet. On the desk were a vinyl player and a few school textbooks. There was a closet next to the desk and in the corner there was a massive pile of dirty laundry. “It’s a bit messy… sorry.”

“It’s fine.” Said Cas, “My room is no tidier. And I have a vinyl player too.”

“Oh, that’s cool.” Replied Dean, “I should probably start on dinner, do you wanna watch TV or something?”

“No, I can help you, can’t I?”

“Are you sure? I mean, don’t feel like you have to or anything…”

“I assure you Dean, I would much rather help you cook dinner than watch re-runs of mindless American sitcoms.”

“Fair enough. Kitchen’s this way.” He walked into the kitchen, Cas following behind him. “Burgers okay for you?”

“That depends. Do you have bacon and cheese to accessorize the burgers?”

“Fuck yeah! Hmmm… maybe if we make the patties thin we can make double bacon cheeseburgers.”

“That is the best idea you’ve had since you decided to sit next to me in art class.” They grinned at each other and then high fived energetically.

“Sam’s bitchface is gonna be spectacular when he finds out it’s burgers for dinner.” Dean said, laughing. “Maybe we should go out and pick him up a salad.”

“Why will he be unhappy because of burgers? How could anyone be unhappy about burgers?”Dean nodded in agreement.  
“Sammy’s a bit of a health freak.” Dean answered, “Sometimes I wonder of we’re even related. You know a couple of weeks ago he threw a hissy fit because I ordered pizza? He thinks I’m gonna die of a heart attack at twenty-five or something. Anyway, shall we get started?” He finished, opening the refrigerator.

“Ok.” Cas nodded as Dean got out all the ingredients necessary for making burgers.

Making the burgers took twice as long as it usually would for Dean as they mucked around and chased each other round the kitchen. They had finally fried all the patties and bacon and were just getting out the buns when Sam came in the front door. He was soaking wet and wearing a bitchface that could probably have killed an old lady with a heart condition. He shook his shoulder length brown hair out like a dog and shut the door behind him.

“Oh shit.” Dean whispered to Cas, who tried not to laugh.

“Dean why the fuck didn’t you answer your phone? I had to walk home from Jessica’s place in the pouring rain and now my hair is all messed up!”

“Your hair isn’t the only thing about you that’s messed up.” Dean replied jokily.

“Dean!” Sam was clearly not amused by how funny Dean and Cas seemed to be finding this extremely unfunny situation.

“Sammy do you want a burger?” Dean asked. This was clearly the wrong thing to say judging by Sam’s face and the onslaught that came with it.

“Firstly, it’s Sam, not Sammy, secondly why the fuck didn’t you answer your fucking phone and thirdly Dean, you promised I could have salad for dinner tonight! How many times do I have to tell you I actually want to survive my fortieth birthday!”

“Sometimes I think you already did.” Said Dean with a grin. Cas was still trying not to laugh. Sam looked at both of them. “Sorry,” Dean said quickly, “I was gonna get you a salad, Sammy, honestly I was, but then you got back so we didn’t have time to get it. And I’m sorry I left you to walk home in the rain, I think I left my phone in the car.”

Sam seemed to calm down marginally after Dean’s apology. “I’m going to have a shower.” He said, still with plenty of attitude, “And then I will come and get my dinner and eat it in my room. Oh and Dean,” he added as he was turning to go, ”If I don’t get salad tomorrow I will let the air out of all your tires.” He stomped off down the hallway.

Dean and Cas looked at each other. “Jesus fucking Christ.” Said Dean, “That is pissed off, even for Sammy.”

“He does have a large amount of attitude considering he’s only a freshman.” Cas replied.

“Yeah… Burger?”

“Fuck yes.”

They ate their burgers in comfortable silence, too engrossed in the flavour of the burgers to hold a conversation. Just as they were both finishing their second burgers, Sam walked into the kitchen, his hair wet again but this time from the shower. He seemed to have calmed down quite a bit, as the look he gave Cas and Dean as he made himself a burger was one of mild contempt rather than outright hatred. When he had made his burger he left again, clearly not quite calm enough to sit with them. Dean and Cas raised eyebrows at each other.

Dean got up and put the dishes in the sink. “Want some pie?” he asked Cas, “It’s apple.” He added.

“Oh I’d better not, I need to get home. Michael will be pissed if I’m home late.”

“Oh okay.” Dean was a little disappointed, but he didn’t let it show. “Do you need a lift?” he asked, instead of begging Cas to stay like he desperately wanted to. Not in a gay way though, obviously.

“No thanks, I’m alright to walk.” Cas replied, “I think the rain has stopped anyway.”

“Are you sure? It’s no trouble.”

“Dean.” Cas said, “It is fine, I assure you. I will see you tomorrow.” He went to the front door and put on his trench coat. “Bye Dean.”

“Bye Cas, see you tomorrow.”

“Bye.” Dean shut the door behind his friend and went to tidy up the kitchen. He was doing the dishes when Sam walked in with his dinner plate. 

“So what’s the deal with you and Cas then?” he asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Well are you guys dating or what? I saw how you were looking at each other.”

“What the fuck Sam? I’m not even gay!”

“Yeah well like I said, I saw how you guys looked at each other. Anyway it wouldn’t be a big deal even if you were.”

“Yes it fucking would! Can you imagine how Dad would react?”  
“Dad’s never here, Dean. You wouldn’t have to tell him and he’d probably never find out.”

“Whatever Sam. I’m not gay so it doesn’t matter.” He angrily scrubbed at a plate. “Don’t you have homework to do anyway?”

Sam sighed and went back to his room.

**********************************************

Dean was at work the next morning, underneath a car trying to fix it. It was working, but it was a slow job and would probably take him most of the day. He couldn’t stop thinking about what Sam had said last night. Did he and Cas really look at each other a certain way? And would it really matter if he was gay? The subconscious voice in his head was convinced that it would, but the more he thought about it, the more he disagreed with it. Looking back on all the girls he had slept with and fooled around with, none of them had been that great. Sure, they had been pretty and had some nice bodies, but was that really what he wanted? He kept thinking about what he did want, and the more he thought about it, the more he thought of Cas. His piercing blue eyes, his messy hair that always seemed to look like he’d just had sex, the way he tilted his head when he was confused, everything about him really. He tried to push the thought out of his mind, but the more he tried, the stronger it came back. Oh shit, he thought. What the fuck am I supposed to do now?


	5. Chapter 5

Castiel walked along the hallway to the stairwell as inconspicuously as he possibly could. He was lucky this afternoon, he only got a few abstract names shouted at him by Crowley and his gang.

“Faggot!”

“Cocksucker!”

“Homo scum!” Castiel was no longer bothered by the insults. He had Dean, so he didn’t need to care. As he walked down the hallway, unaffected by the profanities being shouted at him by the primates that made up most of the football team, he wondered how they ever completed any assignments with good enough grades to keep their places on the team with their complete lack of imagination and intelligence. Once he reached the stairwell, he headed up to the third floor and climbed out the window to wait for Dean. He was almost always there first, because he sprinted out of class as fast as he could to minimize the onslaught.

Once he had sat down in their usual spot he thought about how much better this year had already been compared to previous ones. Having Dean made school more bearable, but life outside school had improved as well. He and Dean did everything together. They went to the library after school together to study. They spent their lunchtimes on the science corridor roof, and occasionally they even went to the art studio to work on their projects. Cas even went round to Dean and Sam’s place for dinner at least once a week, and he had begun to make other friends too, as on Fridays Sam often had a few people round for a movie night. He was so deep in thought by this point that he failed to hear Dean come onto the roof and when he crept up behind him and put his hands over his eyes he jumped, genuinely startled.

“Hey!” Dean greeted him a he sat down and got out his lunch. “What’s up with you today?”

“Oh nothing. Just, you know, thinking about stuff.”

“What kind of stuff?” Dean continued to question him.

“Just, you know, how much better this year has been than the previous ones.”

“Cause of my awesome face.” Dean replied, grinning. “But seriously though,” He nodded in agreement with Cas, “For me too, man.” Cas gave him a questioning look and tilted his head in his cute way. “Well before, we always moving around every few weeks, so I never really got a chance to make any friends. I mean, I’d bang a few chicks, but it never meant anything, you know? Two weeks later we’d be back on the road. I flunked almost every class, because I know that I’ve got a spot in the family business when I finish school. Sammy always had more ambition than me. He gets straight As every year and he wants to go to college and become a lawyer.” 

“I see what you mean, Dean. For me it was just because everyone at school either hated me or was indifferent, so no one cared enough to help me out or bother befriending me. I got straight As every year, but that doesn’t help when you’re being bullied. You do well and you’re a nerd, you fail classes and you’re stupid, a retard, you know? And then I’d go home and everyone there hates me as well. I mean, I have a couple of brothers who don’t, but Balthazar is at University in England and Gabriel, he’s a sophomore but he knows your brother, well he always had friends, so he was too busy with them to bother with me.” Castiel sighed.

“Well,” Dean replied, “I guess we have a lot more in common than we thought.”

They looked at each other. Dean looked into Cas’ piercing blue eyes, the reason (though he had failed to realize it at the time) that he had turned down a chance to play in the football team. Cas looked into Dean’s green eyes. The eyes of the first person to ever stand up to bullies for him and openly accept him. Before either of them knew what was happening, their lips were together. The kiss was slow, different to the rough hurried ones that Dean had had in broom cupboards and behind the bike sheds. He actually wanted this kiss. He wanted it so much. Those girls, he just did it because he could, it was some desperate attempt to fit in despite always being the outsider. This kiss, he knew, would not go down well if anyone at school or his father found out. But he couldn’t bring himself to care about anything other than Cas’ mouth on his as they slowly found their bodies intertwining as they deepened the kiss.

For Cas, who had no similar experiences to compare it to, it felt amazing. He didn’t realize how much he wanted this until it happened. He felt Dean’s hands running through his hair, messing it up even more than usual, and he found his own hands up and down Dean’s back, underneath his T-shirt, feeling every undulation and every contour. They completely lost track of any sense of time, they felt suspended in this moment, this little world they had created. They heard the distant ring of a bell and were reluctantly dragged back to the real world.

“Shit!” Dean cursed as he pulled quickly away from Cas, wiping his mouth with his sleeve and attempting to smooth his hair. “Shit, shit, shit. We’re gonna be late for art.”

Cas got up and straightened his tie, also attempting to smooth his ever-disobedient hair. Unfortunately, today was no exception and it stubbornly continued to stick up in all directions. 

“Huh.” Dean said, looking at his hair. “I didn’t think you could get any sexier. Hurry up, we don’t want your sex-hair to be the thing that gives us away.”

Cas had one final attempt to tame his hair and then gave up. “Dean I-”

“Come on, Cas, we can talk about this in art.” He grabbed his hand and practically tugged him through the window, checking first that there was no one around to see them. They ran to the stairwell like that, hand in hand and laughing, but let go as they walked down to the main hallway, because they knew it would be full of people. 

They were only a couple of minutes late for art, and their teacher didn’t seem to mind. Neither of them could keep the grins off their faces for the whole afternoon as they talked and drew, and drew and talked, but for once both of them could not wait for art to end.

“Wanna come over tonight?” Dean whispered to Cas.

“More than anything, yes.” Came the similarly whispered reply. They both smiled to themselves and tried to concentrate on their work, but neither of them could help looking at the clock every few minutes.

The bell finally rang and they raced out of class, not even stopping off at their lockers to collect any homework that might need doing. Tonight, both Dean and Cas had other things on their mind.

Once they reached Dean’s car they impatiently waited for Sam. When he eventually arrived, Dean sped off so fast he nearly ran over some dawdling freshmans. Cas was so happy that for once he forgot to complain about Dean’s reckless driving.

*********************************************

When they reached the apartment, Dean and Cas ran straight to Dean’s bedroom and Dean slammed the door shut after them. Sam was initially confused when they left him hanging in the kitchen, but he figured that Dean had thought about the conversation they’d had last week and decided to act on it. It pleased him to finally see Dean looking so happy with someone. Normally he would manage to fit in and be popular but he was never happy, Sam could tell no matter what bullshit Dean spouted at him.

Meanwhile in Dean’s room, he and Cas were getting pretty into it. They were making out and by this point both of them had mysteriously lost their shirts. Cas was surprisingly rough. He started kissing down Dean’s neck, teasing the skin between his teeth in some places and Dean could tell that it would leave a mark. It didn’t bother him, however, and he pulled Cas’ head up so that their lips were touching again. Dean felt Cas’ tongue in his mouth again but he pulled away suddenly.

“Wait.” He said.

“What’s wrong?” Cas asked him, surprised.

“Nothing, really. It’s just, shouldn’t we, you know, talk about this?” Dean replied, biting his lip. 

“There isn’t really anything to discuss, is there?” Cas was surprised by how nervous Dean seemed to be.

“Just, you know, what this is. Like, are we boyfriends now, or something? I mean, only if you want.” He added hastily, blushing.

“I don’t think it really matters, so long as we’re both happy and we both want it.” Cas replied.

“Yeah, I guess.”

“You wanna pick up where we left off?”

“Hell yeah!” 

They continued kissing with renewed energy, and Dean gained confidence, gently nibbling on Cas’ bottom lip. This kiss was messier than the previous one, it had less feeling and was more just because they wanted to. They were lying on the bed now, and Cas could feel something against his hip. He moaned softly into Dean’s mouth and his hands were on the button of Dean’s jeans when they both heard a knock at the door. They abruptly sprang away from each other. 

“Shit!” Dean cursed loudly. “What is it Sammy?”

“Don’t worry, I won’t come in. I’ve got a good enough idea of what you guys are doing in there and I don’t want to be scarred for life. I was just wondering if you were planning on cooking dinner anytime soon? Or should I go and pick something up from the store?”

Shit. He had forgotten that tonight it was his turn to fix dinner. “Yeah… Probably not tonight Sammy.”

“Thought so. You want me to pick you guys up something?”

“Yeah, thanks. None of your rabbit food crap though.”

“Yeah, I know. Nothing vaguely natural.”

“Bye Sammy.”

“Yeah, I’m just going.” He walked down the hall to grab his jacket, smiling to himself. He was pleased how this had turned out, Dean seemed happier than he had been in years when he was with Cas, or even talking about him. It was ironic how Dean was the one who always called him gay.

*******************************************

Sam opted to eat his dinner alone in the kitchen, he figured Dean and Cas could come and have theirs when they wanted. He was glad of this decision when he came in to get a glass of water and found them hopelessly eye sexing each other and giggling like twelve-year-old girls. Sam rolled his eyes as he walked out and left them to it.

Later that evening, as Cas was walking home, he thought about his day. It was weird to think that he now had a boyfriend. That would definitely be a brilliant excuse to see Dean (and hopefully kiss him) even more. Since meeting Him his life had gotten so much better. The kissing had been incredible; he could find no other words for it. He hoped there would be more of that in future. The way Dean had nibbled his bottom lip should be illegal; it was so hot. And he was no longer lonely, even when he was at home he could just text Dean, and their friendship made the whole pile of bullshit he had to put up with from his brothers somehow more bearable. He thought it might be because Dean had helped him to realize that when they shouted abuse at him, the things they said often weren’t true. When Michael shouted “Everyone fucking hates you fag!” at him, the words no longer affected him as badly because he knew that Dean didn’t hate him, far from it, and neither did Sam, and Sam’s friends didn’t mind him either.

As Dean lay on his bed that evening he thought about Cas. He was lying there quite peacefully contemplating what a wonderful turn their relationship had taken when Sam ran in, that little nerd (well not so little, he was only fourteen and already taller than Dean, which caused him no end of annoyance) and yelled, “I told you so!” and then ran out again when he saw Dean preparing to throw a pillow at him. Dean continued to think about Cas. Now that he had kissed him, he wanted to do it again and just keep on doing it. Everything about him set Dean’s nerves on fire, from those piercing blue eyes that he hadn’t stopped thinking about since that first day he looked into them, to that hot little moaning noise Cas had made as they kissed. Fuck, did Dean want to make him do that again. Lots of times. The most extraordinary thing for Dean was how much he wanted this, just on its own, there were none of his usual ulterior motives like popularity or making someone else jealous. He just wanted Cas. And then he hit himself in the face with the pillow that he had been going to throw at Sam for allowing himself such a soppy fucking chick flick moment.


	6. Chapter 6

When the bell finally rang, Dean practically sprinted to his locker and dumped his books so that he could get up to the roof and see Cas as fast as possible. He wanted to maximize the amount of time they could spend together. As he walked down the hallway he heard the telltale sounds that someone was being beaten up, and as he got closer he realized in outrage that it was Cas who was being beaten up by Crowley and his gang. 

“Oh look, Castiel,” Crowley sneered as he spotted Dean, “It’s your fag boyfriend come to rescue you.” He turned back to Cas and continued to hit him.

“Too right it is you piece of shit!” Dean yelled in response. He could feel his anger rising and he had to force himself to remember that they were only highschool kids, not supernatural creatures, and he couldn’t just shoot them. Instead he walked up behind Crowley, yelled “Hey douchebag!” and punched him in the face, twice. The blows took Crowley completely by surprise and Dean was pleased to note that his nose was now bleeding and he would probably have a nice black eye tomorrow. He turned to the rest of the gang.

“Any more of you dicks want the same treatment?” They shook their heads and slowly backed away, surprised at Dean’s fighting ability. Crowley had recovered from his initial shock by this point and chose this moment to attempt to get Dean in a headlock. However, Crowley didn’t know that Dean had many years of his father’s “training” under his belt and reacted accordingly. Somehow Crowley ended up on the floor. “No-one. Beats. Up. My. Boyfriend.” Dean spat, kicking him after each word. Unfortunately, the principal had decided to walk down the corridor right at this second, and was not impressed by the sight before him.

“Mr Winchester! Let go of Mr King at once!” Dean hastily complied. “My office now! You too Mr Novak.”

********************************************************

Dean lay on the couch and flipped through the daytime TV channels. He stopped it when he found an episode of Dr Sexy MD and got out his phone. He wondered why Cas hadn’t texted him back when he had asked him if he wanted to come over after school.

He wasn’t too bothered by the suspension because his dad was out of town (wasn’t he always?) so the worst telling off he would get would be from Sam. He was just annoyed that he wouldn’t be able to see Cas during the day for three whole days. And he was angry with himself for losing it and fighting Crowley, because now he would be angry and possibly take out this anger on Cas. Why was he always so damn stupid? Fuck his stupid dad and his stupid fucking “shoot first, ask questions later” mentality. He mentally punched himself in the face and then shifted his focus to the TV to distract himself while he eagerly awaited Cas’ reply.

Cas sat silently in English class. It was lonely without Dean. He was so angry with himself. If only he could have stuck up for himself just for once, then Dean would be here and he wouldn’t be suspended because of him. Dean probably had no desire to continue being boyfriend either, and it was entirely his own fault. Why did he have to be such a wimp all the time? No wonder he had been bullied his whole life, he was practically asking for it with that pathetic excuse for a face. Even most of his brothers couldn’t fucking stand him. His phone buzzed and he saw that it was Dean asking if he wanted to come over later. He hastily slipped it back into his pocket. The only reason that he could think of for Dean wanting him to come over was so that he could break up with him. For fucks sake, he couldn’t even maintain a relationship for more than a week. He sighed and continued with his Literature essay.

*********************************************

Dean was confused. It was 6pm and he still hadn’t heard from Cas. He knew that he had been at school all day, he had asked Sam who told him to stop being so paranoid and yes he had seen him at lunch and for his information he didn’t just exist just to spy on his boyfriend for him and if he wasn’t extra nice to Sam this week he was going to tell Dad. And he knew that Cas had his phone because he had texted him that morning. Did Cas just not want to be with him anymore? It had only been a week, was he really that boring? Maybe he thought Dean was reckless and violent after he beat up Crowley? The questions raced round and round in Dean’s mind. 

He was interrupted from this unhappy cycle when Sam came in to tell him that he needed to go to sleep right now because he still had to drive him to school in the morning because no way was he taking the bus. Dean groaned as he got up off the couch and staggered to his room. 

The next two days for Cas were the most difficult and slow he’d had since meeting Dean. Crowley was extremely pissed off and was not afraid to use Cas as his personal punchbag. It was all made worse by the fact that he had no one to talk to in any of his classes or a lunch, and to top it all off he had to go home straight after school every day again and try to cope with the complete dicks that were his brothers. And he knew that Dean didn’t want to talk to him so he had nowhere to go.

**********************************************

Dean was allowed back to school on Thursday. He still hadn’t heard from Cas so he drove to school especially early (much to Sam’s annoyance) in the hope of catching him before class started. He found him sitting in their usual rooftop spot. His shoulders were hunched and his head was on his knees.

“Cas?” Dean asked tentatively. Cas turned.

“Oh hello Dean.” He replied mechanically. Now that he was facing him, Dean could see his face properly. He had a large bruise on his cheek and a black eye that was just beginning to fade. Dean knew that if he took off his shirt he would see more bruises. He inhaled in shock at the amount of damage the bullies had done in just the two and a half days he had been gone.

“Cas, what happened?” He sat down next to him and was surprised when Cas shuffled slightly away from him. “What’s wrong baby?”

“Just get on with it Dean.” Cas replied. He was angry at Dean for dragging it out.

“Get on with what?” Dean was extremely confused right now.

“You know exactly what, Dean.”

“Cas… I really don’t.”

“Well you’re gonna break up with me, aren’t you?” That statement succeeded in making Dean even more confused.

“Why the hell would I be breaking up with you?”

“Because it’s my fault that you got suspended. Because I’m so pathetic I can’t even defend myself. The list goes on.”

“You aren’t pathetic. I shouldn’t have taken Crowley’s bait like that, that’s why I got suspended. Is that why you haven’t replied to my texts? I was worried that you were breaking up with me, man. ”

“What reason would I have for doing something like that?”

“Because I pissed Crowley off and judging by the state of your face it didn’t sit well with him and he took it out on you.”

“I suppose we both have valid reasons to break up with each other.”

“Is that what you’re saying? Are you bored of me already?”

“Of course not! I just thought you wouldn’t want me anymore.”

“Hell, I want you more than ever now after I haven’t seen you for two whole days!”

“Are you sure, Dean?” Cas asked uncertainly, tilting his head.

“Yes I’m fucking sure. And I’m going to show you that I’m sure by doing something that I’ve been wanting to do for two-and-a-half days. I just sure as hell hope it’s still what you want as well, otherwise this is gonna be super awkward.”

And then Dean kissed Cas with as much emotion as someone as emotionally constipated as he was could muster. He tongued at Cas’ lips, begging for entrance, and after a few seconds (which felt like years to Dean) Cas complied. He opened his mouth and kissed Dean back. Their bodies got closer together so there was no air between them and Cas had just started to kiss down Dean’s neck when the bell signalling the beginning of school sounded, making them both jump.

“Shit! I was meant to go to the principal’s office before school!” Dean jumped up and climbed back in through the window. “I’ll see you in art, okay?” he called behind him as he sprinted down the hallway.

“I look forward to it.” Said Cas, smiling to himself. He proceeded to climb back through the window and walk to class in a much more dignified manner than Dean.


	7. Chapter 7

Dean was in his room with his favourite Metallica album playing on the stereo. He was working on a drawing of a car engine for his art project. More specifically of his baby's engine. He had borrowed one of the school cameras and taken some great shots (if he did say so himself) and had a hell of a time mucking around with the colours and effects on photoshop with Sammy's laptop. 

"Hey Dean!" Sam called from the kitchen, where he was tidying up after dinner.

"Yeah Sammy?" 

"I was just thinking, do you think Dad'll be home this weekend?"

"Probably not, sounded like he was pretty wrapped up in the hunt. Vampire population in Chicago's gone nuts and he wants to gank every last one. Why?"

"Well I was thinking of having a few people over, just for a movie night. The guys normally take it in turns at their houses so I said this week I'd try and have it at ours."

"Should be alright. Can I invite Cas over? Or should I take him out if you guys are just gonna watch chick-flicks?"

"No, Dean!" Dean could feel the bitchface even though they were in different rooms "I don't even watch chick-flicks!"

"Well I don't know where you get your famous chick-flick moments from then...." Dean muttered, just loud enough for Sam to hear. The bitchface feeling intensified.

"Dean!"

"Alright Sammy, don't get your panties in a twist. How many people anyway?” He added, “Imaginary friends don't count." As an afterthought, just to wind Sam up.

Sam chose (wisely) to ignore him. “Well it’s me, Jess, Garth, Kevin, Charlie, Gabe and Jo, I think.”

“Jesus, Sammy, someone’s Mr Popular! And do I detect a few girls in there?”

“Yes, Dean.” Sam replied condescendingly, sighing. “So that’s seven, including me, and nine, if I count you and Cas.”

“Yeah whatever, man. Just order Pizza or something. Bobby paid me last week so we should have enough. Wait, did you say Jo?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Is it Jo Harvelle?”

“Yeah….. Do you know her?”

“Yeah. She’s Bobby’s stepdaughter and sometimes she works at the autoshop. Her mom makes the best apple pie in town. They own a diner called The Roadhouse.”

“Oh yeah I forgot but she did say her stepdad owns an autoshop. Anyway I’ll text everyone and tell them to come on Friday.”

“Yep good plan.”

“And Dean.”

“Yeah?”

“I am about to do my math homework and I would like to hear myself think.”

“Calm down, Samantha, I’ll turn it down.” He turned down his stereo and went back to drawing. A few minutes later his phone buzzed. It was Cas.

_Hello Dean. How’s your evening going?_  
 _xxx_

**pretty gd, u? just doing art and listening to music atm**  
 **xxx**

_My evening is alright, thank you. I am also doing art._  
 _xxx_

**why don’t you come over here and we can do art together? ;)**  
 **xxx**

_I doubt how much we will achieve, Dean. But I can be there in thirty minutes._  
 _xxx_

**awesome see u soon**  
 **xxx**

_Goodbye, Dean. I will see you in thirty minutes._  
 _xxx_

**bye Cas**  
 **xxx**

Dean put his phone back on his desk. “Sammy!”

“What, Dean?”

“Cas is coming over in half an hour to do art!”  
“Oh yeah ‘art’. Because that’s totally what you guys get up to when you’re together.”

******************************************

Cas and Dean were lying on their stomachs in the living room. They were, contrary to Sam’s suspicions, actually doing art.

“Cas?”

“Yes, Dean?”

“Pass the sharpener.” Cas handed him the pencil sharpener. “Thanks Cas.”

“You’re welcome Dean.” He looked down at the drawing he had just finished. “Does this look alright?”

“Yeah. It looks awesome.” Cas tilted his head and frowned.

“You don’t think I was too heavy with the shading?”

“I think it looks perfect Cas.” He added, “Just like you.” And kissed him quickly on the nose. Cas blushed.

“Dean! You promised we would focus on our art!”

“Yeah well we have. So now lets focus on something else.” He wiggled his eyebrows in a mock suggestive manner.

“I hate you.” Replied Cas, leaning over to kiss Dean.

“Oh wait a second. Before we start that I wanted to ask you something.”

“What?” Cas tilted his head again.

“Nothing serious, calm down. Sammy’s having a few of his friends over on Friday for a movie night. You wanna come?”

“Sure. I think Gabriel may have mentioned that to me just before I left actually.”

“Awesome. Now back to the important things. You wanna go to my room?”

“Fuck yeah.”

They sprinted to Dean’s room. As soon as they were both inside, Dean grabbed Cas and pinned him up against the door, slamming it shut. The kiss was rough and needy, with more than a little bit of lip biting, and soon Cas flipped their positions and pushed Dean down onto the bed.

He pulled off Dean’s shirt and began to kiss down his neck; occasionally nipping and biting at the skin in a way that he knew would leave marks. He wanted to show that Dean was his. He sucked and teased at Dean’s nipples, eliciting a breathy moan. He continued down, kissing and biting at Dean’s stomach and when he reached the waistband of his jeans he kissed each hipbone, and tugged at the skin with his teeth for a few moments, provoking more gasps and moans from Dean. 

He palmed at the growing bulge in Dean’s pants through the fabric and then unzipped his jeans and removed them, tossing to them aside to focus on more pressing matters. The boxers came next, again being thrown to the other side of the room. 

Dean’s cock was so hard it almost hurt and the tip glistened with precum. Cas licked up the underside and sucked at the head, his tongue tracing the slit at the end. He heard Dean’s breath hitch and he took his whole length into his mouth. Dean moaned as he felt Cas’ hot wet mouth around his cock and his hips instinctively bucked up and his back arched. It didn’t take long until he was close. He managed to scream out “Cas..... Cas!”, and he came, seeing white as he exploded into Cas’ mouth. Cas swallowed and looked up at Dean, grinning.

“Cas you are the best thing that ever happened to me.”

“Thank you, Dean.”

Dean noticed that he was still as hard as diamond.

“You got a little problem there, want me to help you out?” Dean winked and rolled them over so that he was on top. He undid Cas’ pants and slid them off. He could see his erection straining against the thin fabric of his underwear, and he slid them off too. He took his cock into his hand and began slowly stroking up and down, increasing the pace as Cas started to gasp and pant, bucking his hips up and furiously fucking Dean’s fist. “Dean….” He moaned, “I’m so close…” And he came, shooting ropes of white cum into Dean’s hand an across his stomach. 

Dean rolled over so that he was next to Cas again, and they looked into each others eyes. Dean was just leaning in when Cas cursed loudly.

“Fuck!”

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s almost ten o’clock! I have to get home.” He jumped up and franticly began retrieving his clothes from where they had ended up in various places all over Dean’s bedroom and began hastily pulling them on.

“You want a lift?”

“No thanks, Dean, I can walk.” He was trying (and failing) to smooth down his perpetual sex hair.

“Uhh…. Cas…. It’s raining. Like, a lot.”

“Alright, you can give me a lift.”

“Awesome, get your coat.” As they were walking out the front door Dean yelled into the house, “Sammy! I’ll be gone for about 20 minutes! I’m just giving Cas a lift home!”

******************************************

Cas smiled from where his head rested on Dean’s shoulder. They were siting on the floor leaning on the couch as the credits rolled on Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Charlie had been outraged when she found out that neither of the Winchester brothers had seen any of the Harry Potter movies or read any of the books, and as a result had insisted that their movie night became a Harry Potter marathon.

“Are there any more gummy bears?” Gabriel asked, as he licked his fingers after finishing his third packet.

“Dude, you ate all three packets!” Sam replied.

“Is there any pizza left?” asked Dean.

“No, because you ate it all.” Sam responded.

“Calm down bitches, I’m gonna put the next movie in.” Charlie cut in, trying to avert a potential argument. She went over to the DVD player.

“Shouldn’t we stop?” Kevin inquired, “I don’t wanna be too tired tomorrow. I have to study.” 

“You guys are all such lightweights!” Charlie laughed, “It’s only 3AM.”

Cas got up. “Why don’t I go and make some more popcorn to wake everyone up?”

“Make it toffee!” Added Gabriel.

Cas looked over at the couch. Sam was yawning and had his arm around Jessica, who had fallen asleep, and he didn’t look too far off from going the same way. Jo was asleep. Garth yawned, and then so did Kevin, who was clearly falling asleep. The only ones who looked vaguely awake were Meg, Gabriel, and Dean on the floor, and Charlie over by the DVD player.

He went over to the kitchen and put some toffee popcorn in the microwave. He himself had never been an enthusiastic sleeper, but even he was feeling a bit tired. The evening had definitely been a lot of fun though. They had all gone straight over to Dean and Sam’s right after school so they could watch as many of the movies as possible, although now it was 3AM and they were only just halfway through. He was impressed that Charlie could do this every night. He had spent the duration of the movies eating pizza and cuddling with Dean, though he knew Dean would never admit it. His macho front was hilarious, Cas thought. He was brought out of his thoughts and back to the Winchesters’ kitchen by the sound of the microwave beeping. He put the popcorn in a bowl and joined the others in the living room.

The opening credits of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix had just begun. Charlie looked like she could just about cry with excitement. By this point Kevin, Sam and Garth had all fallen asleep, and even Gabriel and Meg looked a bit drowsy. Dean had fallen asleep leaning against the couch with his head lolling forward, which Cas found extraordinarily cute. He placed the popcorn on the floor next to Charlie and sat down next to Dean, once again resting his head on his shoulder. He almost wished that he hadn’t bothered making the popcorn, but knowing this lot they would probably eat it in the morning when they woke up.

As he leaned on Dean’s shoulder, Cas felt his eyes growing heavy. He just managed to see Harry return to Hogwarts before he fell asleep.

******************************************

Dean woke up to see a pair of familiar piercing blue eyes staring straight at him.

“Morning Cas.”

“Good morning Dean.”

“We the only ones awake?”

“Yes.”

“What time is it?” 

Cas looked at his watch.

“Quarter to eleven.”

“Maybe we should make everyone breakfast.”

“Maybe we should, Dean.” Cas took his hand, helping him up, and they chased each other into the kitchen and began making the breakfast.

*******************************************

Everyone had finally gone home, even Cas. He had promised to come back later though, for more “art” with Dean.  
Sam and Dean were tidying up the living room. Popcorn had managed to get everywhere.

“I think I’m just gonna get the vacuum cleaner and vacuum the whole room. Why don’t you do the washing up?”

“Don’t you be giving me orders, little brother. And are you gonna vacuum the couch?”

“I think I need to.” Sam had lifted up the cushions. “There’s so much gross shit under here!”

“Most of it was probably there before we even bought the damned thing.”

“Not helping.”

Dean laughed at his disgust and went through to the kitchen, where he began to fill the sink up with hot water. He began to hum a bit of Metallica as he added the washing up liquid, though he couldn’t hear the tune once Sam started up the vacuum.

*****************************************

Sam and Dean sat down on the newly vacuumed couch with well-earned sandwiches and sodas, and Dean had turned on the TV to an episode o Dr Sexy MD. Suddenly they heard the noise of a truck from outside. They both looked at each other, their faces a mixture of shock and apprehension.

The front door opened and John Winchester strode in.

“Dean. Pack your duffel. Now. Meet me in my truck in ten minutes.”

Dean went to do as he was told without question, but Sam was curious as to why Dean had to leave and not him. He was also pissed that Dad had been gone for more than a month with very little contact and if Dean hadn’t had his job at Singer’s Auto, they would have been starving.

“Why does Dean have to go?”

“Because something came up and I need back up. Finish your sandwich Samuel.”

“Why don’t I have to come?”

“Because it’s very simple, so I don’t need you to do any research for me.”

“Uh huh. So what is it you’re hunting?”

“Look, Sam, I’m very busy right now. Dean! Get in the car!”

Dean hurried to obey. 

“Bye Sam. Say bye to Cas for me.”

“I will. Try not to get killed.”

“I’ll do my best.” Dean’s tone was joking, but they both knew that the risk was very much real.

“Dean, get in the car. We have to go now.”

They both left and Sam went to his room to look for his phone so he could text Cas. On his bed was a note from Dean.

**Sam,**

**Please tell Cas I probably won’t be able to text him because Dad sometimes reads my phone. Also tell him I’ll miss him and I’ll be back as soon as I can.**

**Dean**

He found his phone and texted Cas.

_Hey Cas, Dean had to leave real sudden with our Dad who just turned up out of the blue. Hey said to tell you he’s sorry he couldn’t say goodbye but he will miss you and he should hopefully be back next week. He also said he probably won’t be able to text you because our Dad sometimes just reads his phone and he probably wouldn’t take it well if he found out about you guys._

Sam went and did some homework that he needed to do for Monday and then ate dinner in front of the TV. He checked his phone again after he had a shower and before he went to bed, but Cas still hadn’t replied.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long...

Dean sighed as he polished his trusty Colt .45. He took the polaroid of Cas that he had taken a couple of weeks ago out of his jacket pocket. What he wanted more than anything was to call him, just to hear his voice, but Dad had forbidden phone usage except in an emergency. He sighed again and looked at his watch. He had already cleaned all the guns and it was barely 10 o’clock. Dad wouldn’t be back until well after midnight, but he couldn’t risk calling anyone in case Dad needed him. He didn’t think Dad would take “I was on the phone to my boyfriend” as a great excuse for why he didn’t pick up.

He hated this part of their life. The constant moving and putting his ass on the line for people who didn’t know or care, and wouldn’t give him any gratitude even if they did. He hated Dad’s orders and his ridiculous expectations. His eagerness to blame Sam or Dean when something went wrong. His drinking. He had always believed that Dad had a good reason for all of this, but now he wasn’t so sure. He rubbed his face with his hands and turned on the TV. He tried to focus, but even Dr Sexy MD couldn’t hold his attention for long. He just wanted to talk to Cas. He couldn’t stop worrying about him and he missed him. He was concerned that Cas would think he had left him, like last time with the fight and Dean getting suspended. He knew Sam would have tried to talk to him, but Cas was one stubborn son-of-a-bitch. Would he not want to talk to him when he got back?

He missed him as well. Normally they saw each other every day, but now it had been four days and they hadn’t even texted. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to, he just didn’t want Dad to be check his phone because if he didn’t think he’d take it too well. He missed Cas so much. Those eyes the colour of the sky and twice as deep. That dark hair that always looked like he’d just had sex, no matter what he did to it. The way his head tilted to the side when he was confused. His way of looking extremely hot and extremely cute at the same time despite wearing a button down shirt, a tie and a trench coat. God, he was having a chick flick moment all by himself, without Sam even having started it. He didn’t care though. It was about Cas.

******************************************** 

“Cas?”

Cas’ head whipped round at the voice that he had never heard up on the roof before. He calmed down a little when he recognized the floppy hair and height.

“Dean told me about up here. Don’t worry, I haven’t told anyone.” He added when he saw the panic rising in Cas’ eyes. “I just thought I might find you up here.”

“What do you want?” Cas asked, scowling.

“I just wanted you to know that Dean misses you.”

“If he misses me so much, why hasn’t he called? Or texted? One text would be all it would take.”

“He can’t, Cas. Honest, our Dad’s real strict. Dean’s helping him with his work so he’s only allowed to use a phone in emergencies. He hasn’t even called me.”

Castiel sighed and looked away. He had hunched his shoulders, hugging his knees to his chest. Sam shrugged and climbed back through the window. He understood why Cas was upset and that made him even more angry with their father. It was always about what he wanted to do, who he needed to help him, not thinking about how it affected everyone else. It made him angry how their dad took Dean for granted as well. Dean would do anything to please Dad, and he never even thanked him. He just expected Dean to go hunting with him without thinking about it. What made Sam even angrier was how that was exactly what Dean did. Every time. 

Castiel watched Sam go and hugged his knees tighter. These lunchtimes had been impossibly lonely the past few days. He missed the easy banter and lazy evenings spent at the Winchester’s apartment, sketching and painting with Dean, either in the Dean’s living room or in the art studio at school. Cooking dinner together as Sam complained about the lack of nutritional value in the food. The kisses they shared every day. The quick kisses snatched on the roof at lunch or between classes. The needy, hot kisses on Dean’s bed when they got so lost in the moment they forgot all sense of time. But more than any of that, he missed Dean himself. His impossibly deep green eyes that meant Cas could tell exactly what he meant even when he didn’t say a word. The freckles on his face Cas would always try and count as they spooned on the sofa and talked about anything and everything. His scent of car oil and leather and the way the muscles on his back contracted under his hands. He just didn’t understand why Dean hadn’t made any effort to talk to him. Last week Dean had told him that he was the first person he actually felt happy with, but now he wondered if that had been the truth.

Dean being gone had affected his life in other ways as well. Now that he wasn’t spending his evenings at Dean’s house, he had to spend them at his own. Consequently, his stomach was covered by an intricate design of black and purple, and his lip was split. He also had a cut above his left eyebrow from where Michael had gotten frustrated about something or other and thrown a plate. Now, the roof was his only escape, and he felt like he was back to where he had been before he had met Dean. It was worse, though, because now he knew just how much he was missing. He put his head on his knees as the hot tears threatened to spill over. He wanted to hide them, even from himself.

********************************************

Dean tucked his gun into the back of his pants and slung the shotgun loaded with salt rounds over his shoulder. He took the shovel and flashlight his Dad handed him and entered the gates to the cemetery. Another teenage boy would have been fucking terrified, but Dean was unaffected by the spooky scenery. He was used to this kind of thing. When Dad signaled to split up, He hastily obeyed, and began to search the headstones on the left side of the cemetery. 

They found the ghost and burnt her bones. She stopped killing people. Dean came out of it relatively unscathed apart from one or two cracked ribs from when she had thrown him to the ground. There was nothing more to it. The whole case had been a salt and burn of the simplest kind, requiring no complex spells or rituals, which made Dean all the more angry at being separated from Cas. Dad could have taken this one solo, so why did he have to fuck up Dean’s life? Hell, Sammy could have taken this one solo, not that Dean would ever allow that to happen, and he was only fourteen.

He dumped his weapons, except his colt, in the trunk with the shovel, empty gas can and box of rock salt and got into the cab. For once he was glad that Dad would move on straight away, without stopping to snatch an hour or two of sleep. Only a few more hours and he would be able to speak to Cas. He even missed Sam a bit, though he would never allow enough of a chick flick moment to tell him. They had never been apart for this long before. God, he was being such a chick. If he didn’t watch it his dick would drop of and he’d grow a pair of boobs. He rested his head against the window and closed his eyes. He hadn’t slept in 72 hours and he felt the exhaustion pull him under. 

He was roughly shoved awake a few hours later. He reached for his gun on instinct but relaxed when he realized he was still in the cab of Dad’s truck, but they were now in the parking lot of their apartment block. 

“I’ll see you in a week, Dean. Tell your brother I said hello and I hope he’s studying hard. The same goes for you, Dean”

“Bye, Dad.” He sighed as he grabbed his duffel from the trunk. A week. Huh. 

“Evening, Sammy!” He yelled as he entered the apartment. He dumped his duffel in his room and went straight to the fridge. Regular mealtimes were not one of Dad’s top priorities. 

He heard Sam enter the room as he made his sandwich.

“Hey Dean.”

“Hey Sammy. How you holding up without me?”

“Fine. But I need to talk to you.”

“Is it about Jessica? Because no means no.”

“No. It’s about Cas.”

“What about him?”

“Listen, man. I hadn’t seen him all week, even though I told him he could sit with us in the cafeteria if he wanted since you weren’t there, so I went up to the roof.”

“And was he there?”

“He was there all right.”

“And?”

“He looked like he’d been crying. And he had a cut above his eyebrow, so the thing with his brothers or even Crowley has probably started up again since he’s been at home more. And…he’s worried that you weren’t missing him. I think he’s still convinced that you don’t really like him.”

“For fuck’s sake. Why the fuck does Dad always turn up with his stupid fucking hunting at the wrong fucking time!” Dean got his phone from his pocket.

“What are you doing?”

“Calling Cas. I need him to know how much he means to me.”

Dean pressed the speed dial on his phone and gestured for Sam to leave as he waited for Cas to answer. He picked up on the second ring.

“Hello Dean.”

“Hey Cas. Meet me at the Roadhouse in thirty minutes.”

“Why?”

“Tell you when we get there.” 

He put down his phone and sprinted to the shower, half constructed sandwich forgotten on the counter. He let the hot water rinse off all traces of grave dirt form the hunt and thought about how he could make Cas see that he cared too much about him to ever do something like that to him. When he was getting dressed he still hadn’t thought of anything apart from telling him how much he meant to him but talking about feelings wasn’t really his strong point. He needed something that would show him.

Once he was dressed he had to go, idea or not. He put on his jacket and felt in the pocket for his keys. He found something else as well. It was stiff and papery, but soft at the edges from being held so many times. It was the polaroid of Cas from a few weeks ago that he had carried with him on the hunt. It was the first photo he had taken of him, and he remembered the moment well. They had been laughing, and Cas hadn’t noticed he had taken the picture until he heard the click of the camera and the whirr as it printed out the photo. Dean unfolded it, and looked as the carefree, laughing face with those blue eyes and smiled as he put it back in his pocket. Remembering the time, he sprinted out the front door, shouting to Sam that he would be back late and not to wait up for him.

********************************************

Cas sighed as he tied his favourite blue tie. He couldn’t think why Dean wanted to see him all of a sudden. Nearly a week of nothing, and now he wants to meet up at midnight, for why Cas couldn’t fathom. He tried to do something to his hair but gave up when it persisted in being a disaster, as usual. He looked at his watch. He needed to get going if he was going to be there on time. Thankfully all his brothers were out, so he managed to get to the front door without being punched or ridiculed for his trenchcoat.

As he walked along the dark street, he desperately hoped that this wasn’t Dean ending it, once and for all. He would miss him so much if it was. School was the most boring and unpleasant thing on the planet without Dean by his side. People didn’t smash him up against the lockers for no reason when he was with Dean. And while he felt that made him kind of pathetic that he needed someone with a leather jacket and a tough guy reputation to protect him, he kind of didn’t mind. Because Dean didn’t mind, and he never made Cas feel weak. Cas tried his best to do things in return for Dean. He helped him with his Math and English homework and they helped each other with art. But he had thought their relationship was about more than that. He hoped he was right.

By this point he had reached The Roadhouse. He stood by the lamp post outside as he waited for Dean.

*******************************************

Dean parked his car in the parking lot of The Roadhouse and locked it before walking over to the entrance to look for Cas. He spotted him and quickened his pace. 

“Hey Cas.”

“Hello, Dean.”

“Look, man. I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you while I was away. And that I didn’t say goodbye. My Dad just showed up out of nowhere and said I had to go with him. I missed you so much, man.”

“I thought you were trying to break up with me.”

“God, Cas, I know, Sammy told me he talked to you. And I’m sorry.”

“Are you sure you aren’t breaking up with me?”

“Look at this Cas.” Dean took the picture out of his jacket pocket. “You see this?”

“Yes.”

“You remember when I took it?”

“How could I forget?” Cas smiled. “We were in your living room one Saturday and you said something really stupid. We were meant to be taking pictures of books for my sketchbook but you took one of me instead when I laughed.”

“You know why I took it?”

“No.”

“Because I wanted to remember your laugh always. This photo here, I took it with me when I had to go with my Dad. I kept it in my pocket and every night I took it out and looked at it, because I missed you so much and I wanted to see your face so bad.”

“So we’re still good.”

“Good? I think fucking awesome is a better description. Now come here.”

He wrapped his arms around Cas’ neck and brought their lips together. The kiss was slow and gentle. There was no need to rush anything. They had all night and that seemed like all the time in the world. Dean broke the kiss after a few minutes and brushed a stray hair out of Cas’ eyes. 

“You know I would never leave you unless I had to, right?”

Cas brushed the freckles on Dean’s cheek with his thumb. “I think I love you Dean. Is that okay?”

“Yeah it’s okay. I think I love you too. Is that okay?”

“Yes.”

“Good. I’m starving. Burger?”

“I think that would be in order.”

Cas took Dean’s hand in his and they entered the Roadhouse. They chatted about anything and everything while they waited for their burgers, and continued to chat after they arrived.

When they had finished, Cas looked at his watch.

“Dean.”

“Yeah Cas?”

“It’s 2am.”

“Okay.”

“We have school tomorrow.”

“Come back and crash at mine.”

“I don’t have any of my things.”

“We can stop at your place tomorrow on the way to school.”

“Alright.”

“God, I’m so tired I could literally collapse right here in this booth.”

“Are you safe to drive?”

“Course I am.”

“Well let’s go then.” Cas grabbed Dean’s hand and pulled him up from the booth and out of the diner. They walked hand in hand to the Impala. For once Dean was glad that he wouldn’t have to drive for long because he was beyond the valley of exhausted and slightly entering the territory of almost dead.

“Shall I sleep on the sofa?”

“No dude, you can sleep in my bed.”

“What about you?”

“It’s a double bed.” Dean smiled.

“Oh okay.” Cas returned the smile.

“Oh, you can’t sleep in your clothes. Here.” He tossed Cas his AC/DC shirt and took off his jeans and jacket.

“Thank you, Dean.” Cas undressed down to his boxers and put on the T shirt. It smelled like Dean. He could get used to wearing Dean’s clothes, but he couldn’t see Dean ever wearing any of his clothes. He laughed slightly at the thought of Dean in a button down and a tie.

“What’s so funny?” Dean asked as he got under the covers.

“The thought of you in a tie.”

“I could rock a tie and you know it.” He laughed, “Now get in my bed and sleep with me.” He pulled Cas down onto the bed and they both got under the blanket. Dean put his arm around Cas’ waist and pulled him closer.

“Not a word to Sammy. I don’t want to ruin my manly reputation.”

He kissed Cas on the nose and they were both asleep in seconds.


	9. Chapter 9

Dean opened his eyes and felt warm arms around his waist. He rolled over and propped himself up on his elbow so he could see Cas’ face. He took in every contour and every plain on his sleeping face. His cheekbones. The shape of his mouth and his pink, kissable lips. His crazy hair that never could sit quietly. He brushed a stray hair out of Cas’ eyes and planted a quick but tender kiss on his lips. Cas smiled when he felt it, and began to wake up. He opened his eyes to Dean smiling at him. He smiled back and rolled over so he was on top of Dean and started to kiss him enthusiastically. Dean opened his mouth desperately, his tongue searching, yearning for Cas’ touch. The kiss deepened and they began grinding up against each other. Dean could feel Cas’ boner pressing into his hip. He flipped them over and ripped Cas’ shirt, which was actually his shirt, over his head. He kissed along his collarbones and worked down his chest, kissing and nipping. He took his time over each sensitive nipple, sucking and gently tugging with his teeth. Cas let out a breathy moan and arched his back in response. Dean continued sucking at his nipple before moving further down to his lean stomach. He palmed Cas through the thin fabric of his boxers, a wet spot of precum forming. He tugged away the underwear and lubed up two of his fingers. He began to slowly stretch Cas’ hole, who moaned as he scissored his fingers before adding a third finger. All this time he was kissing Cas’ neck. 

“Are you sure you’re ready? We don’t have to do this.”

“Fuck, Dean!” He bucked his hips up and whimpered as Dean’s finger touched his prostate, “Yes, I’m sure. Are you ready?”

“Yeah.”

“Then do it. I want you inside me so badly, Dean.”

Dean reached into his bedside drawer for a condom. He opened it and rolled it down his length. That he had done a thousand times, but never with Cas. But this time he had a feeling he’d never had before. He was so hard it hurt and right now it seemed like this moment, being here with Cas, was the most important thing that could ever happen in the world. He didn’t care about passing his classes, or pleasing his Dad, or even about working on the Impala. He thrust slowly into Cas and started to move in and out. When Cas moaned he quickened his pace and Cas bucked his hips up to meet him. He ran his hands through that messy hair like he had wanted to do for so long. Their mouths engaged in a sloppy kiss, Cas gently tugging at his lower lip as he licked the inside of his mouth. His back arched and his hips bucked up desperately when he felt Dean on his prostate.

“Fuck… Dean… Harder-” His words were cut short by a moan. Dean obeyed, thrusting harder as Cas’ moans and whimpers sent him over the edge.

“Fuck… Cas… I’m gonna-” He came shouting Cas’ name, who climaxed seconds later, shooting cum all over their stomachs. Dean pulled out and Cas flipped them over so that he was on top. He bent down and kissed Dean gently on the forehead, the blue eyes staring into green.

“Fuck, Cas, that was so good.” He said, panting as he came down from his high.

“It was amazing.” 

Dean bent down to brush a soft kiss to his lips in reply. They both yawned simultaneously, their tiredness having been forgotten in the heat of the moment.

“We should probably clean up before we go to sleep…”

“Yes I agree.”

They went to the bathroom and then got back into Dean’s bed, both naked and snuggling into each other.

“Love you Cas.”

“Love you too, Dean.”

They fell asleep like the flick of a light switch.

***********************************************

Cas opened his eyes and looked over at Dean’s sleeping face, so calm and relaxed. He remembered the events that had taken place before they slept, and smiled to himself. As he was remembering he ran a hand through Dean’s hair, usually sculpted into place with product. Now it was almost as tousled and unruly as his own. He looked at his freckles and tried to count them, but gave up because there were too many. His perfect pink mouth that had just hours ago been attached to Cas’ own. He brushed a finger along his bottom lip and glanced at his closed eyelids that hid the beautiful green beneath them. All of a sudden the green was visible again as Dean opened his eyes. He looked at Cas and smiled.

“Mornin’ beautiful.”

“Afternoon.”

“Oops.”

“Oops.”

They both laughed and pulled each other closer, their lips joining together in a slow but sweet kiss. They separated after a few minutes, and Dean got up and put on a pair of boxers. He tossed a pair to Cas.

“Come on, let’s go have some coffee and then we have the whole afternoon to ourselves.”  
“What should we do?”

“I don’t know yet. Any ideas?’

“Nope.”

“Well we got time to decide, we can do whatever we want.”

“Okay.”

They walked into the kitchen, and Dean turned on the coffee machine. While he waited for it to start up, he wrapped Cas’ legs round his waist and kissed him. They broke the kiss and looked into each other’s eyes, blue into green, foreheads together. The coffee machine beeped and Dean deposited Cas on the counter while he poured the coffee. He handed a mug to Cas and joined him on the counter.

“You think of any ideas yet?”

“No. I don’t really mind what we do.”

“Well we could go for a drive and pick up your stuff, and then go to the roadhouse for lunch, and then maybe just drive around a bit, and then we should both probably do some art because we missed it today and it’s a bitch to catch up if you get behind.”

“That sounds perfect, Dean.”

“Sure?”

“Sure.”

“Awesome.”

They chatted as they finished their coffee, before going back to Dean’s room. Dean once again lent Cas some of his clothes. Once they had gotten dressed, brushed their teeth and sorted their hair out (well Cas had tried) they grabbed their coats and went to the car. The stereo came on with one of Dean’s cassettes as soon as he started up the ignition, and Cas happily sang along with Dean, both equally tuneless. He had never listened to rock music until he met Dean, in fact he had never really listened to much music at all, but now hew knew the words to almost every single one of Dean’s cassettes. Dean stopped the car outside the Novak family house.

“How much of my things should I get?”

“How long are you staying?”

“I don’t know.”  
“Well if no one minds you staying at mine, and you only really leave to sleep anyway, you can at least stay for the weekend. If you want.”

“I’d like that.”

“Cool, get your stuff then, I’m starving.”

“Just doing it, Dean. Be patient.”

He got out of the car and when he got to the front porch he turned round and blew a kiss to Dean, who jokily winked back at him. He emerged a few minutes later with a duffel bag (presumably full of clothes), a sketchbook and a folded up easel under one arm. He put them all in the trunk of the Impala and then climbed back in shotgun.

“Huh. That was pretty fast, Novak.”

“You bet. Where are we going for lunch?”

“You wanna go to the Roadhouse again? The apple pie is to die for and we never got a chance to try it last night.”

“Sure, get driving then.”

“Be patient.”

The Roadhouse diner was only a short drive away, but they managed to fit in a surprising amount of talking and sing along to the stereo on the way. When they were walking through the parking lot they saw Jo’s car pull up. She waved at them, and signaled for them to wait for her to park up. Dean cursed.

“Shit. I forgot her mom owns this diner.”

“I’m sure it will be fine, Dean.”

Cas grasped his hand and squeezed it tight, reassuring him. Jo was now approaching them.

“Look at you two skivers! Winchester and Novak, skipping school in the name of love!”

“Shut it, Harvelle.” 

The three of them laughed.

“It’s okay, my mom won’t care. It’s Friday, anyway. Now, I must leave you two lovebirds because I’ve got to go and meet Charlie. See you Monday!”

Dean and Cas walked into the diner hand in hand. They sat down in the same booth they had occupied the night before and ordered their food. Dean sat across from Cas and looked into his eyes. He couldn’t believe it. He was sat here with this cute, dorky little guy (well he wasn’t exactly little but he was shorter than Dean so fuck off) and they were having a date that could probably be classified as romantic. Last night had actually been very romantic, the way they’d met up at midnight. If any of the girls found out about that, they’d go on about how cute it was for ages, and the strangest thing was, he hadn’t even been worried about it being a chick-flick moment once. He was just making sure the guy he loved knew that he loved him. And even better, he wasn’t worried about what Dad would say. He knew that he would strongly disapprove if he ever found out, and face it, he probably would at some point, and when he did he would have the bruise to prove it, but Dean just didn’t care about that bullshit. Cas was more important.

Dean never ceased to surprise him. He was always acting all macho and tough guy, but when it came down to it, he had taken Cas to a diner at midnight to declare his love. He felt bad for ever doubting him. Cas loved every aspect of Dean from his tuneless singing voice to his numerous freckles, and he loved him as a whole as well. He knew that when he went home his brothers were gonna give him so much shit, but he also knew that he could stay at Dean’s this weekend and Monday was far away.

******************************************

Sam came through the front door and was confronted with a mess of art supplies scattered all through the living room. At least someone (probably Cas, he concluded) had bothered to cover the couches and TV with old sheets. Two large painting easels were set up, and several sketchbooks lay open on the floor, which was frosted with a layer of paint-splattered tissues and pencil shavings. Paintbrushes and pencils were strewn over every surface, and Sam was mildly concerned that pots of water in various colors and palettes with swatches in every shade were just asking to be knocked over and ruin the carpet. In the center of this colorful apocalypse sat Dean and Cas, wearing old shirts that had maybe once been white a long time ago.

“Well I’m glad you two had fun.” He said in response to the sight before him “But it would have been kind of you to tell me you weren’t bothering to come in at all so I didn’t have to wait in the rain.”

“Hey Sammy, I’m the older brother, I’m meant to do all the worrying, remember?”

“Whatever, jerk.”

“Bitch.” They both smiled.

“Anyway, I have math homework that could well take me until the next decade. I’ll leave you two to your art. Call me when dinner’s ready.”

Once he had left, Dean turned back to Cas, “What was that you wanted to tell me?”

“Dean…”

“Yes?”

“Well basically my brother Balthazar asked me to go to Oxford with him next year if I got in and I did so next year I’m going to England so I’ll have to live there and I won’t be able to see you. And it’ll be really difficult but I really value the opportunity because I’ve never really been away from my other brothers before and I really want to be. Please don’t break up with me yet because it won’t be until the end of next September.”

“Cas…”

“Yes Dean?”

“I’m gonna miss you so much.”

“And I’m gonna miss you even more. When I agreed it with Balthazar to go if I got in I was yet to meet you and I only found out that I got in last week.”

“Well let’s put away all this art bullshit and make the most of our limited time.”

He put down his paintbrush, pulled Cas up and pulled him into a hug, followed by a loving kiss on the lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the last chapter, just the epilogue after this. I might write some more stories in this verse though- thoughts?
> 
> also my tumblr is catchmeafallingstar.tumbr.com


	10. Epilogue

Dean flicked through the scrapbook Cas had given him before he left. It was full of pictures of them from over the summer, all the great things they’d done. There were pictures from their road trip in the Impala, the time they had hired dirt bikes, and so many more from just everyday things like at the Winchester’s apartment or the Roadhouse diner. On the inside cover Dean had stuck the now very crumpled photo of Cas laughing that he had taken with him on that hunt all those months ago. Around all the photos were little snippets of his poetry and little sketches he had drawn. Some were of Dean, some were of both of them, and some were of completely random things. Dean looked at it every night, and he hoped Cas did the same with the one he had given him. A picture of the two of them from graduation was in there, and Dean remembered that day like yesterday. They had both passed all of their classes and gotten their diplomas, which for Dean anyway, was a massive achievement considering the year before he had barely turned up to them. He had even gotten an A in math, thanks to Cas’ months of tutoring. He sighed and put the book away. It had been a month, and he missed him like it had been a decade.

*****************************************

Cas finished typing his essay and got out his scrapbook from the drawer in his desk. As he perused the pages he remembered each moment captured in the photos. He sighed. University was definitely overrated. His lectures were interesting, and he enjoyed reading the books that were set, but wasn’t there something more to life than writing essays? And in addition that, he was living with Balthazar, who was much more of an extrovert than him. There were always parties and drinking and people and he never got any peace and quiet. He missed his art, and most of all he missed Dean. He came across a photo of the two of them in The Roadhouse diner; Charlie had taken it because they looked “so cute she could have died”. He reread the note on the inside front cover again for the millionth time.

_Cas,_

_I’ll miss you. I love you._

_Dean xxx_

He sighed again. Why was he in England? He wanted to get away from his brothers, but he could do that and still live close to Dean. He could probably get a job if he went back, couldn’t he? You didn’t need a degree to write a book or do art, did you? He decided then and there to book a plane back to South Dakota as soon as he could. To his delight there was one due to leave the next morning that was almost empty. He decided not to tell Dean he was coming. It would be a nice surprise. He hoped they were still living there. He reminded himself that it had only been a month, not the millennium it seemed, and it was extremely unlikely that they had moved.

He hummed “Ramble On” by Led Zeppelin, one of Dean’s favourite songs, as he packed. He was happier than he’d felt in weeks. He didn’t have many things; it was mostly books and his art supplies. And his typewriter, and obviously he had some clothes. As he folded away all his shirts he came across the AC/DC T-shirt Dean had lent him that night when they had met up at midnight. He had told Cas that it looked so good on him he should keep it, and it had become his favourite shirt. He hadn’t worn it since he had come to England though, and he changed into it straightaway, regardless of the fact he was still wearing his black suit pants.

********************************************

Dean looked at his watch. Only an hour to go, and then he was free from work for the weekend. The thing was, he didn’t look forward to weekends nearly as much as he used to. Working was definitely better than contemplating his impending loneliness that seemed likely to last for the rest of his life. Sam was always busy at the weekends, hanging out with his friends or doing homework (nerd). Dean was always invited, he liked Sam’s friends and he knew some of them pretty well because they were in his year too. He did go out with them sometimes as well, and it was fun. But things just weren’t the same without Cas.

“Winchester! Get your idjit ass back under that car and stop daydreaming!”

********************************************

Castiel found his seat and placed his rucksack under the one in front. He was relieved to finally be on his way to Dean. Just eleven-and-a-half hours, and he would be back in Sioux Falls. He got out his Dean scrapbook just as an elderly lady sat down next to him. He smiled at her, unable to contain his excited mood, and she returned the gesture. 

“What’s his name?”

“Pardon?”

“His name?” She gestured towards the scrapbook.

“Oh. It’s Dean.”

______“You look so cute together, if you don’t mind me saying.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Thank you.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“How long has it been?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“A month, just over actually.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Feels like forever when you’re in love, doesn’t it?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Yes, it certainly does.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Well I hope you two are very happy together.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Me too.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______She laughed and retrieved some knitting and a pair of spectacles from her handbag. Cas continued looking through his scrapbook until the seatbelt sign went off, and then he got out his sketchbook for some drawing to try and suppress his excitement and calm his nerves._ _ _ _ _ _

______********************************************_ _ _ _ _ _

______Dean popped the cap off of a bottle of beer and collapsed onto the couch. He rubbed his hands over his face as he stifled a yawn. Fuck, he was tired. It was Friday after all. As he flicked through the channels he found an episode of Doctor Sexy MD and settled down to watch it. Just as the bad credits music started rolling, he heard the doorbell ring. He turned off the TV quickly, if it was Dad he didn’t want him to think he was being lazy._ _ _ _ _ _

______An extremely familiar face greeted him. Blue eyes, sex hair, trenchcoat, cute but nerdy. He was wearing a pair of Dean’s old jeans that hung low on his hips, and the AC/DC T-shirt he’d given him because he looked so damn hot in it. With his trenchcoat over the top. That was it. He had finally missed Cas so much he had lost it completely. Unless it was the real Cas. But it couldn’t be, he was in England right now._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Dean? Are you alright?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______It sounded like Cas._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Yeah, fine. I’m just really shocked to see you.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“I thought it would be a pleasant surprise.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“It is. You on vacation already then?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“No.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Why are you here then?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“I quit.”  
“What the fuck? That was like your life ambition or some shit!”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Yes but it turns out it wasn’t.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Why the hell not?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Because I missed you too much.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“You gave up your dream to be with me?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Yes.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Cas…”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Dean?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“I love you. But you didn’t have to do that.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“I love you too. But I wanted to. I’m coming back to live in Sioux Falls. I should be able to get a job… hopefully.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Well dump your stuff in my room then.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“What do you mean?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Well this is pretty sudden, so I’m guessing you don’t have a place set up or anything, and you probably don’t wanna go home…”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“All of those things are true.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Come on then. You can live with us til you find a place, or for a bit longer, if you want.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Won’t your Father mind?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“He’s never here. And when he is… well… he probably won’t like the idea of us. But we can work around that when we have to.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Alright Dean.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“You hungry?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“A little.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Wanna make burgers?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Fuck yes. But only if you have the proper accessories.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Bacon and cheese!”  
They high fived and Cas went into the living room to get his bags. He deposited them in Dean’s room while Dean got the ingredients out of the refrigerator. It amazed him how little things had changed. This time last year they were making burgers in the kitchen, and now they were doing it again. He remembered the first time they had made burgers; it had been the first time he had visited the Winchesters’ apartment. Sam had thrown a “bitchfit”, as Dean put it, because he had had to walk home in the rain and then was forced to eat unhealthy food against his will. I was definitely an crazy thought to think that it had been almost a year. It had all gone by so fast, yet at the same time they had done so many things together._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Cas?! You got sucked into the mysterious vortex under the bed?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“I’m coming Dean.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Haven’t heard you say that for a while.” He winked and wiggled his eyebrows._ _ _ _ _ _

______“This is not the time for obscenity, we have more pressing things to focus on. Like the burgers.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______They cooked and talked and pissed around in the kitchen and talked some more. There was certainly a lot of catching up to do. Cas told Dean all about his experiences in England. He told him about the late night writing and drawing while the rain pattered on his skylight; this was a frequent occurrence because it rained a lot in England. He told him about hiding in his room and painting while Balthazar hosted his wild parties, and going for walks at midnight when it was dark and all he could hear were his own footsteps. He also told him about how lonely he’d been and how much he missed him._ _ _ _ _ _

______Dean filled him in on everything that had been happening in Sioux Falls, which was nothing exciting, as usual. He now worked full-time for Bobby at the Autoshop and Sammy was now a sophomore if you could believe it. He hadn’t seen his dad for three months but that was nothing new; now that Dean had a reliable income he was leaving them for longer and longer periods of time. And of course he mentioned how he had looked at the scrapbook every night because he missed Cas so much. By this point the burgers were almost ready.Cas got out some plates and buns and held them out so Dean could flip the burgers onto them. They added bacon and cheese and Cas took the plates over to the couch while Dean got a couple of beers out of the fridge._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Man, I’ve missed this.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Me too. The English are good at a lot of things, but they really don’t know how to do burgers.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“I still can’t believe you came back.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Neither. I’m glad I did though.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Yeah, so am I. And we have the whole weekend to do whatever we want before I have to go back to work on Monday.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Dean, I missed you so much.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Yeah me too Cas.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______When they had finished their burgers, Dean put the plates in the sink and the beer bottles in the trash. When he came back, he extremely subtly placed his arm around Cas’ shoulder._ _ _ _ _ _

______“That was very subtle, Dean”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“You know me. Mr Smooth.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Just keep on telling yourself that.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Shut up. You know you love it.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Too true.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______All of a sudden their lips were together. Dean’s tongue licked at Cas’ mouth eagerly. He moaned into his mouth when Cas tugged slightly on his bottom lip with his teeth. He twisted them around so that they were lying on the sofa, their legs intertwining and their hot breath mingling as they kissed roughly, but not without feeling. Dean bucked his hips up, trying desperately to get some friction against his rock hard dick, and he began to kiss down Cas’ neck, eliciting a series of moans and pants. They got lost in the moment, and when they heard the front door open they sprang apart._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Jesus guys, I really didn’t need to see that” Sam shut the front door._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Sammy you told me you were sleeping over at Charlie’s!”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Well I was, but then I realized I have a shit ton of homework and a math midterm to study for.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“How the hell did I get such a giant nerd for a little brother. Sometimes I question if we’re even related.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Sam shot him a quick bitchface, but it held no real venom._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Hey Cas. I thought you were in England.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“I was. But I came back.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“He missed me too much” Dean put his arm around Cas, who blushed._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Well I’m very happy for you two. But I have stuff to do.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Wait Sammy, one quick thing.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“What?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“D’you mind if Cas lives with us for a bit?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Fine with me.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Well its settled then.” Dean kissed Cas quickly on the nose. He blushed again._ _ _ _ _ _

______********************************************_ _ _ _ _ _

______Castiel opened his eyes and rubbed away the sleep dust. The bed felt unusually warm, and he was confused until he remembered that Dean was there as well. He was so overjoyed that they were finally reunited; while he was in England he had questioned if they would even ever meet again, let alone move in together. Everything just seemed, well, right. There was, of course, the worry of Dean’s father’s reaction to their relationship, but they would, as Dean had said, “work around that when they had to.” Having no desire to get up just yet, he rolled over and snuggled into Dean, falling back asleep almost immediately._ _ _ _ _ _

______About an hour later, Dean’s eyes opened and he was extremely glad to notice that Cas was in his bed of all places, and the whole evening before had not simply been an amazing dream. He saw that his bedside clock read 10:07 AM, so they should probably get up soon because they had lots of stuff they wanted to do. But he knew from past experience that waking Cas up wasn’t generally a good idea unless you had extra strength coffee that worked instantly, so he decided to just lay there and think about stuff until Cas woke up. It was really quite remarkable how fast everything had gone from being really quite shit to being super awesome in the space of one evening. Last night he had been thinking how lonely bacon cheeseburgers now seemed without Cas, and how weird it seemed driving to the art store for new paintbrushes without him riding shotgun. Today, he had a boyfriend, a roommate, and a best friend._ _ _ _ _ _

______He saw the corners of Cas’ mouth twitch and knew that he was now only pretending to be asleep because he couldn’t be bothered to get up. He rolled on top of him and kissed his nose._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Mornin’ Beautiful.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Cas groaned._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Coffee. Now. You can flirt with me later.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______******************************************_ _ _ _ _ _

______Dean jumped onto the counter to join Cas as they drank their coffee. He swung his legs back and forth._ _ _ _ _ _

______“So what shall we do today?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“I don’t know.” His forehead crinkled and his head tilted as he thought for a few seconds. “I should probably try and find a job.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“True. What sort of thing were you thinking?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Well I still want to write a book. But I need something to do until then, I don’t really care what it is.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Shall we just go to the mall and see if there are any vacancies anywhere then?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Yes, that sounds like a good idea.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“ ‘Kay.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______They continued sipping their coffee. When they were done Dean pulled Cas off the counter and spun him round, their foreheads pressed together._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Come on baby. We got a big day ahead of us.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Dean, I don’t particularly want to share a name with your car.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Alright, Mr Novak. That formal enough?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______They laughed and went back to Dean’s room to get ready. Unfortunately, they got distracted by more pressing matters (their raging boners) so it was almost lunchtime by the time they were dressed and in a fit state to go out in public._ _ _ _ _ _

______*************************************************_ _ _ _ _ _

______They had been at the mall for over two hours, and Castiel was losing hope. None of the places appeared to have any vacancies, and even if they did, he wasn’t sure if they’d be the sort of places where he’d fit in, if he was perfectly honest. The mall had mostly clothes shops, more than half of them exclusively selling women’s clothes, and he knew absolutely nothing about fashion anyway. He told Dean that they should go home and try somewhere else tomorrow because they were both bored. He wasn’t surprised when he agreed._ _ _ _ _ _

______They were walking outside on the sidewalk outside the mall to get a chocolate milkshake before they went home when he saw a small Italian-looking café. It had a few of those little green metal tables and chairs outside it with intricate patterns wrought into them. He looked in the window and there was a hand written sign, which read:_ _ _ _ _ _

_Barista required. Inquire within._

He tugged Dean inside. This was the sort of job he was looking for to pass the time while he wrote his novel. It was small and not too busy, but there were plenty of interesting looking people around. The place had its own individual essence, it wasn’t just like every other chain coffee place with a different badge. He approached the man at the counter, his hands shaking slightly.

______“How can I help you?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“I’m here to inquire about the job.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Ah, yes. Do you know how to make coffee?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Yes.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Can you do early mornings?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“With coffee, yes.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“When would you be able to start?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Whenever you need me to.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Monday, 6:30 AM?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Okay. What hours would you require of me?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Until about 5, Monday to Friday. You would get a lunch break for about an hour in the middle and you get weekends off, we are all filled up there, it’s just during the week that employees are difficult to find.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Okay then.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Will I see you on Monday then?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Yes. Thank you.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“You’re welcome. Have a good day.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“You too.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______He returned to Dean, who gave him a fist bump, then a hug, and finally a little kiss on the lips._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Awesome, dude. Home?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Actually, I was wondering if we could stop off at the art store first. I’m completely out of good pencils.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Sounds good.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______**********************************************_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Dean?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Yeah?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Pass the sharpener.”  
“Sure.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Thanks.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______He sharpened his pencil and threw the sharpener back to Dean, who caught it. They continued drawing for a few minutes in comfortable silence until Cas jumped on Dean’s back and covered his eyes. He made him get up and led him over to his easel, his legs wrapped round his waist and his hands over his eyes. When Dean was positioned right in front of it, he removed his hands and Dean saw the sketch. Well sketch was an understatement. Masterpiece would have been more accurate, in Dean’s opinion. Cas had drawn Dean just then, lying on the living room floor; his head tilted upwards and to the side, his lips parted as he smiled at Cas. He had captured the likeness perfectly, the way the light fell over his face and how his shirt hung over the muscles on his back._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Cas… that’s amazing… it looks exactly like me… you even got my freckles right.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“I’m glad you like it.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“I’m gonna frame it.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Is that really necessary Dean?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Yes.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Cas walked over to Dean’s sketchbook, which lay open on the floor. The page displayed a drawing of Cas. He was sitting up, his face concentrated and his hand poised with the pencil on the easel. It was such a good drawing, he had taken his facial expression and his unruly hair and made them look more real than they looked in real life._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Dean I love it.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Good.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“I’m going to frame it.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Okay.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______They hugged, and their foreheads pressed together. As they looked into each other’s eyes they both knew what the other was thinking. They would do whatever they could to stay together, no matter what. They just stayed there, they weren’t sure how long for, but it didn’t matter. They were together, and they had time later and tomorrow and next week to get things done. For now, they just knew that they loved and were loved. That was all they cared about._ _ _ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... it's all over. I will be writing more fics though, probably mostly destiel, and I might write some more stories within this verse.
> 
> Also I am looking for a beta, so my tumblr is catchmeafallingstar.tumblr.com if anyone is interested. I mostly write destiel, but also a bit of drarry.


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